Mar. 20, 2018, 12:40 p.m.

Rep. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican, said Trump’s famous promise to build a wall with along the Mexican border should be extended — to protect her state from the liberals to the west.

President Trump hosted a round-table discussion at the White House on Tuesday in which conservative politicians and law enforcement officials from across the country and the federal government took turns one-upping each other with disgust over California’s “sanctuary city” law.

But one elected leader bested them all. Rep. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican, said Trump’s famous promise to build a wall with along the Mexican border should be extended — to protect her state from the liberals to the west.

“As we look in Arizona, we often look into the dangers of the southern border,” McSally said. “But if these dangerous policies continue out of California, we might need to build a wall between California and Arizona as well.”

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Mar. 20, 2018, 12:36 p.m.

Sen. John McCain on Tuesday blasted President Trump for his call earlier in the day congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his reelection, saying Trump had “insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election.”

McCain, the Arizona Republican who is undergoing treatment for brain cancer yet continues to be outspoken on Trump’s friendship with Putin, also said in a statement and on Twitter, “An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is McCain’s close friend but less publicly critical of Trump, made a similar point about Putin’s reelection without commenting on Trump. “Congratulations to Russian President Putin on his Fake Victory in the Fake Election,” Graham said. “Heaven help the 25% who didn't vote for him!”

An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections. And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election. https://t.co/lcQTBi7CA1

Mar. 20, 2018, 10:17 a.m.

President Trump said Tuesday that he would meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, “in the not too distant future” to discuss “the arms race, which is getting out of control.”

The president made the comment to reporters at the White House as he confirmed that he’d congratulated Putin that morning in a phone call for the Russian’s “electoral victory.” Putin was reelected on Sunday with more than 77% of the vote against a weak field of opposition candidates.

Trump said they discussed Ukraine, North Korea and Syria. But he did not mention Russian hacking and disinformation efforts in the 2016 U.S. election, nor the recent nerve-agent assassination attempt in Britain against a former Russian spy and his daughter, which the British and others have blamed on Russia.

Mar. 20, 2018, 8:55 a.m.

(Yuri Kochetkov / EPA/Shutterstock) (Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks March 18 at a rally near the Kremlin.)

Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t offended that President Trump hasn’t called to congratulate him on winning a decisive reelection victory on Sunday.

According to Kremlin spokeman Dmitry Peskov, people get busy, especially presidents. So, maybe Trump’s schedule just hasn’t allowed him to squeeze in a call to the Kremlin — yet.

"This should not be regarded as an unfriendly step,” Peskov told reporters Tuesday during a press call. “Some may be unable to make a phone call due to a tight schedule, and others, for a different reason. It’ll be wrong to exaggerate anything.”

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Mar. 20, 2018, 6:30 a.m.

Congressional negotiators laboring to write a trillion-dollar plan to fund the federal government are caught up in last-minute partisan disputes over abortion rights and healthcare costs, among other matters.

Mar. 20, 2018, 4:00 a.m.

When Mike Coffman was growing up in Aurora, it was a small white military town on the outskirts of Denver. In the half a century since then, wave after wave of immigrants and refugees have transformed it into a vibrant, racially mixed suburb.

Mar. 20, 2018, 4:00 a.m.

As the Trump administration barrels ahead with its plan to apply stiff tariffs on imported metals starting Friday, governments and businesses across the globe are in a fog as to what is happening and are bracing for at least a short-term hit because of what many criticize as the administration’s slapdash process.

Mar. 19, 2018, 1:53 p.m.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived Monday in Washington, D.C., the first stop on a two-week trip that will include a visit to Los Angeles to meet with entertainment and defense executives, and Silicon Valley to meet with tech leaders.

The powerful prince, considered the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, is expected to meet with officials from Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co. and the Walt Disney Co. studios, among other companies.

After meeting President Trump at the White House on Tuesday, the prince will pursue investment and technological expertise during his trip, which also includes visits to Seattle, Houston, New York and Boston.

Mar. 19, 2018, 1:21 p.m.

The Trump administration imposed fresh economic sanctions on the leftist government of Venezuela on Monday in a move aimed in part at stopping its use of a digital currency. However, it did not impose a long-threatened ban on the country’s oil exports.

U.S. officials say Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s cash-strapped government has introduced a digital currency called the petro to circumvent sanctions and to conceal how much it has bankrupted the once-thriving economy.

“President Maduro decimated the Venezuelan economy and spurred a humanitarian crisis,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “Instead of correcting course to avoid further catastrophe, the Maduro regime is attempting to circumvent sanctions through the petro digital currency.”